Can Technology Kick the Economic Recovery into High Gear?

Issue: July 2013, Posted Date: 7/17/2013

Sure, the stock market has bounced back, real estate has come out of its coma and consumers are brimming with confidence. But it's difficult for even the most strident optimists to view the economic recovery as anything but tepid.

In plain English: It feels as if something is fundamentally wrong with the U.S. economy.

And that's why an economic paper from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) should receive more attention for the path to prosperity that it proposes.

As our productivity grows, he notes, we become more competitive globally and our national income rises. However, technology's role in economic growth has been ignored by many economists because it is considered a private good and thus not an area that requires government support.